Conduit electric railway



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. W., SIEMENS, Deod. GUARANTEE TRUST AND SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY,Administrator.

GONDUIT BLEGTRIG RAILWAY.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Y C. W. SIEMENS, Decd. GUARANTEE TRUST AND SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY,Administrator.

GONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

wAsHxNG'roN. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUARANTEE TRUST AND SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY, ADMINISTRATOR OF CHARLES WM.SIEMENS, DECEASED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,356, dated May 22,1894. Application filed October 19, 1893. Serial No. 488,655. (Nomodel.) Patented in England October 17, 1883, No. 4,945.

To coll whom it may concern:

Be it known that the GUARANTEE TRUST AND SARE DEPOSIT COMPANY, of thecity of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania and United States ofAmerica, administrator of the estate of CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS,deceased, late a resident of Westminster, London, England, does declarethe said CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS to have invented new and usefulImprovements in Electric Railways, (for which Letters Patent of GreatBritain, No. 4,945, were granted to him on the l7 th day of October,1883,) of which the following is a specification.

The invention for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, relatesto electric railway systems and more particularly to the novelunderground conductors insulated from the earth, and by or from whichelectric current is transmitted to the motor or motors of a vehicle orvehicles traveling on a track ranging parallel with the subwayconductors. These conductors may have any desired form but in thepresent case they are shown as tubes having a longitudinal slot at theupper side or part. Theundergroundconductors areplaced within a chamberalong which a box-like conduit is formed, preferably by opposing channelirons separated to provide between their upper edges or parts alongitudinal slot. In the preferred construction, opposing angle ironswhich rise to the roadway level are xed to adjacent upper parts of thechannel irons. A drainage trough or channel also is provided in thechamber or conduit. A preferably iiexible conductor passes downward fromthe vehicle through the slot formed between the opposing angle andchannel irons tothe contacts which travel in the tubular conductors asthey are drawn along by the moving vehicle. The slotted conductors aresustained within seatings of insulating material which are supported bychairs bolted to adjacent ends of the channel irons which arelongitudinally separated expressly to provide recesses or pockets toaccommodate the chair and insulation supports of the tubular conductors.I-Iinged or removable covers or lids at the roadway level'provide forfree access to the tubular conductors and their supports to facilitateinspection, cleaning or repairs.

The contact which is drawn along the tubular conductors may have anysuitable form, a preferred construction being a pair of springseparatedcheek pieces or plates which press against opposing sides or faces ofthe conductor from which the current actuating the vehicle motor istaken.

The invention Will iirst be described and then will be particularlydefined in claims hereinafter set forth.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification and in which similar reference numerals indicatecorresponding parts in the several views.

Figure l is a detail plan view, partly in horizontal section, of aportion of the underground conduit next the adjacent ends of the channelirons forming the same, and a portion of one tubular conductor and itschair and insulation supports, the hinged cover at one side of theconduit being removed. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectionalelevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, together with the contacts. Fig.3 is a central vertical transverse section of the tubular conductors,their insulation, and the supporting chairs. Fig. Lis a detail side viewof parts shown in Figs. l and 2. Eig. 5 is a plan view of a pair oftubular slotted conductors, traveling contacts therein, and aportion ofthe iiexible conductor conveying current to the vehicle motor. Dottedlines in this view indicate how a number of connected contacts may beemployed. Eig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the parts shown in Fig.5, and Fig. 7 is a detail horizontal sectional view of one of thetraveling contacts. A

In a continuous chamber formed in the earth or underground and aboutparallel with a surface railway track on which electric cars or vehiclesare to travel, is formed a conduit which preferably comprises opposingpairs of channel irons l, l, set edgewise on any suitable foundation andwith their hollow sides or iianges facing each other. These channelirons are separated suiiiciently to provide between their upper opposingiianges a slot 2, in which runs the electrical conductor which conveyscurrent from the main conductors ICO held within the conduit, and at thelower separated ianges of the channel is formed in the concrete bed, orit may be by separate tiles or pipes, a trough or channel 3, which givesdrainage from the conduit of water enter ing it from the ground surfacethrough the slot 2, or otherwise. The channel irons 1, 1, are separatedlongitudinally or at the ends, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of thedrawings, in order to form spaces or pockets to receive and give accessto the chair and insulation supports of the main electrical conductors.There are preferably two of these main conductors 4, 4, which rangealong within the conduit or between the channel irons forming the same,and in the drawings these conductors are shown as having a tubularcylindrical general form and provided along their upper parts, each witha slot 5, through which travels the arm of the contact device presentlydescribed. The conductors 4, are supported directly by or within beds ofany suitable insulating material 6, which in turn are secured in or uponchairs 7, preferably made of metal and with iianges which bear on andare secured by bolts 8, to the inner faces of the channel irons, seeFig. 2, of the drawings. The chairs have three detachable jaw-likeportions 7, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and which permit proper adjustmentof the conductors 4, and their insulation supports 6, upon their lowermain portions and afterward lock 4 and 6 securely in place whilesustaining them from the channel irons. .Bolts 9, hold the central jaw 7a in position.

In order to fully protect the chair and insulation supports 7, 6, of themain conductors at the spaces or pockets between the separated ends ofthe channel irons, andalso to give free access to 7, 6, at or throughsaid spaces, the latter are covered by a metal box-like casing 10,secured to the channel irons preferably by the upper bolts 8, whichfasten the conductor chairs 7. The outer side wall of the casing 10,slants at an angle of forty-five degrees or sufficiently togive ampleroom between it and the base flange 0f an adjacent continuous angle iron11, for reaching the conductor supports. A portion of the top of the boxor casing 10, which is made removable and preferably as a door or cover12, hinged by a bolt 13, to lugs on the casing and closing upon oragainst the angle iron 11, allows convenient access to the conductor andits supports by swinging the door open, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 2, of the drawings. There is a casing 10, with a hinged cover 12;and also an angle iron 11, secured to each of the main conduit channelirons 1, 1, at all spaces between the ends of said channel irons, andthe upper faces of the parts 10, 12, 11, are about level with thesurface of the roadway on which the vehicle tracks are laid. It will benoticed that the continuous angle irons 11, 11, which bridge the spacesbetween the ends of the channel irons and which are bolted to the topdanges of the latter, form most effective ties or stays for the channelirons, and the space between the two angle irons is an upwardcontinuation of the contact arm slot 2, formed between the channel ironflanges. Vhen two underground main conductors 4, 4, are used, onepositive and the other negative for the working and return currentsrespectively, the contact device will have two contacts, one running ineach conductor. These contacts may have any approved form but arepreferably made expansible and with two opposing cheek pieces or plates14,15, having interior lugs through which passes a bolt or pin 16. Thelugs on one plate 15, are slotted and an expanding spring 17, is placedbetween said plate and the lug on the other plate 14, and presses thetwo cheek pieces apart to give them good contact with opposing faces orparts of the conductor tube. The contact arm 18, which is fastened tothe plate 14, has suitable insulating connection v with a frame orheadpiece 19, to which is coupled the preferably flexible conductor 20,which passes upward through the subway slot 2, and is coupled by duplexwires in any approved manner not necessary to show or describe, to thevehicle motor to connect its positive terminal with one main conductor4, and its negative terminal to the other main conductor.

Dotted lines in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings indicate how two or moretwo-part expanding contacts 14, l5, may be used in each of the mainconductors and in this case the contacts in each conductor will beconnected by a copper wire 21, and the two end contacts will be coupledby arms 18, with the frame 19, which will be correspondingly lengthenedto accommodate the entire duplex series of contacts.

The claim is not limited to the precise construction herein described,since CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS is considered to be the inventor, broadly,of an underground conduit placed entirely beneath the surface of theground, and which has within it one or more conductors insulated fromthe earth, and a..

traveling contact or contacts passing along said conductor or conductorsand connected with an electrically propelled vehicle moving along theground parallel to the conduit, and further, the late CHARLES WILLIAMSIEMENS is considered to be the inventor of the construction comprisingtubular insulated conductors placed underground with sliding contactswithin said conductors connected preferably by a flexible oryieldingconductor with an electrically propelled vehicle running on a trackparallel with the conduit.

It is desired to distinguish this invention from a system of electricrailways in which electrical contact is maintained by means of a slottedtube placed above the surface of the ground, and by a traveling contactin the tube connected with a vehicle, and to which construction no claimis made.

The following is claimed as the invention of the late CHARLES WILLIAMSIEMENS:

1. In an electric railway system, a continu- ICC IIC

ous underground chamber having a slot at its upper side, channel ironslocated at intervals within said chamber, chairs carried by said channelirons, a continuous slottedtubular conductor extending through thechamber and insulated from and supported by said chairs, and anelectrically propelled` vehicle having traveling connection with saidconductor.

2. In an electric railway system, a continuous underground chamberhaving a slot at its upper side, channel irons located at intervalswithin said chamber, chairs carried by said channel irons, a continuousslotted tubular conductor extending through the chamber and insulatedfrom and supported by said chairs, and an electrically propelled vehiclehaving a yielding traveling connection with said conductor.

3. In an electric railway system, a continu ous underground chamberhaving hinged or removable covers giving access to said chamber, channelirons located at intervals within said chamber, and a conductorsupported by said channel irons.

4. In an electric railway system, a continuous underground chamberhaving hinged or removable covers, channel irons located at intervalswithin said chamber, chairs carried by said channel irons, tubularslotted insulators and slotted conducting tubes within said insulatorsand sustained by the chairs,

5. In an electric railway system,a continuous underground chamber havinghinged or removable covers, channel irons located at intervals withinsaid chamber, chairs carried by said channel irons, tubular slottedinsulators and slotted conducting tubes within said insulators andsustained by the chairs, a sliding contact making device having twoinsulated contact arms, each having a moving contact within saidconducting tubes, and an electrically propelled vehicle moving along theline of the underground chamber and flexibly connected to the slidingcontact making device within said tubular conductors.

In testimony whereof the aforesaid administrator of the estate ofCHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, deceased, does hereby subscribe its name, inthe presence of two witnesses, this 29th day of September, 1893.

[n s] GUARANTEE 'rRUs'r IND SAFE DEPOSIT CO.,

Administrator, By RICHD. Y. COOK,

Presi.

Witnesses:

WM. IRWIN, W. S. WINsHIP, J r.

